Young women in the state may soon lose the freedom to wear jeans, visit internet cafes and use cell phones.
Five right-wing organisations, disturbed by the high incidence of elopements and sexual promiscuity among girls, have launched a door-to-door campaign to make parents aware of how these freedoms are causing their daughters to go astray.
The organisations — Arya Samaj, Dronacharya Brahman Sena, Maharana Brigade, Ahir Yadav Manch, and Jai Hindustan Seva Samiti — issued a joint statement in this regard in Aurangabad recently.
Blaming western-style dressing for all evils, they have asked parents to prevent their daughters from wearing tight jeans and skirts as such clothing lures boys into illicit relations with the girls.
The saffron group has also called for curbing cell phone use among girls. “Are your daughters doing business? Why do they keep on talking for hours on roads or terraces of their houses?” the statement questions, warning parents that mobile phones are the root cause of unethical relations with the opposite sex.
Apart from the joint statement, the group has also displayed posters on the main streets of various cities in the Marathwada region urging parents to monitor their daughters’ activities more closely.
Parents are also being told not to allow girls visit internet cafes as these are hot-beds of pornography. The volunteers of these organisations have begun keeping a watch on girls entering internet cafes.
Taking a divergent view than the Taliban, the group has advised parents not to allow their daughters to wear scarfs. “Under the disguise of scarves, girls are being given unlimited freedom to move anywhere, and hence they are indulging in bad habits. Besides, wearing scarf is not an Indian tradition,” the group has said.
Arya Samaj secretary Dayaram Bassaye Bandhu denied that the statement is a fatwa. “Fatwa involves coercion whereas we are awakening parents to check the misdeeds of their daughters”.
Arya Samaj office bearers and other organisations are conducting corner meetings for this purpose. During the upcomming Ganesh festival, the campaign would be spread across the entire state.
Sajag Mahila Sangharsh Samiti chief, Mangala Khinvsara, said nobody can tell girls what they should do or wear in a democracy.
“It is ok if the saffron organisations are convincing girls and their parents peacefully. But we will resist them if they try to make it obligatory,” she said.
